PACIFICA -- Sacred Heart Prep turned the inclement weather to its advantage in the second half, dominating the final two quarters of﻿ a 13-7 win over Menlo School for the Central Coast Section Division IV football championship Friday night.

Menlo had a 7-0 lead at halftime before No. 2 seed Sacred Heart Prep (12-1) took control of a game played in a driving rainstorm at Terra Nova High.

"I'm very proud of our offense and the way we were able to run the ball in the second half," Sacred Heart Prep coach Pete Lavorato said. "(At halftime) I said, 'Look, we're not a throwing team. It's hard enough to throw under perfect conditions. We're either going to pound the ball, or lose.'

"We're the team that should have benefited from this kind of weather. I give Menlo a ton of credit for how hard they played."

Menlo's high-flying passing offense was severely diminished by the wind and rain. Quarterback Jack Heneghan, who came into the game with 33 touchdown passes and only three interceptions on the season, completed 6 of 20 passes for 68 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Five of his six interceptions on the season came in the two games against SHP.

Sacred Heart Prep took over on its 35 after the second-half kickoff and drove 65 yards in 13 plays, all on the ground, for the tying touchdown, a 1-yard run by sophomore Ben Burr-Kirven.

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The Gators forced a punt and then went 73 yards on another 13-play drive with quarterback Kevin Donahoe scoring on an 11-yard bootleg. There was a bad snap on the PAT, leaving the score at 13-7.

Menlo needed to respond but held the ball for only five plays before Jack Del Santo's interception gave it back to the Gators at their 48.

Junior running back Andrew Segre powered for 22 yards on the first play, carrying several Menlo tacklers the last 10 yards. Segre finished with 136 yards rushing on 23 carries.

Sacred Heart Prep drove to the Menlo 6 where Ben Burr-Kirven was thrown for a 3-yard loss by Matt Bradley on fourth and 2, and Menlo took over on its own 10 with 2:03 left and one more chance to stage a rally. Heneghan completed a 10-yard pass to Connor Paterson and an 18-yarder to Connor Stastny. Heneghan ran for 7 yards on third and 5 to pick up a first down at midfield. But on the next play, Del Santo came up with his second interception, and SHP was able to run out the clock.

It was the second CCS football championship in the last three years for Sacred Heart Prep.

"It's been a great year," Lavorato said. "I don't know if anyone thought we'd be this good. I don't know if I did."

The Gators had 36 plays from scrimmage in the second half, all on the ground. They had 244 yards rushing. Burr-Kirven had 63 yards on 13 carries, getting 11 of his carries in the second half when he and Segre were a hard-running tandem at running back with senior Ryan Gaertner moving to flyback.

But the big story of their season was a defense that allowed 121 points in 13 games, just over 9 points per game.

"This is a very committed bunch and they can all flat-out run," said defensive coordinator Mark Modeste. "Plus they're smart. It's a testament to the whole program and how it's developed. We've never had a group this athletic."